SENATE, No. 2955

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator RAJ MUKHERJI

District 32 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

     Requires county welfare agency to provide financial planning services.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act concerning county welfare agencies and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    The Commissioner of Human Services shall require a county welfare agency located in the State to:

     a.     provide financial planning services when requested by a client, free of charge and during the agency’s operating hours, via a qualified staff member;

     b.    in the event that the qualified staff member required under subsection a. of this section is not available to provide financial planning services upon the request of a client, to direct the client to the Department of the Treasury’s free personal finance web-based platform, or any subsequent platform provided by that department or the State; and 

     c.     promote the availability of financial planning services provided at the agency, as well as the availability of the Department of the Treasury’s free personal finance web-based platform or any subsequent platform provided by that department or the State, on the agency’s website and in the agency’s physical office.

     2.    There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services such sums of money as are necessary to allocate to county welfare agencies in order to fulfill the provisions of section 1 of this act.

     3.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

     This bill directs the Commissioner of Human Services to require a county welfare agency located in the State to: provide financial planning services when requested by a client, free of charge and during the agency’s operating hours, via a qualified staff member; in the event that the qualified staff member required under the bill is not available, to direct the client to the Department of the Treasury’s free personal finance web-based platform, known as NJ FinLit, or any subsequent platform provided by that department or the State; and promote the availability of financial planning services provided at the agency, as well as the NJ FinLit platform or any subsequent platform provided by the Department of the Treasury or the State, on the agency’s website and in the agency’s physical office.  The bill also appropriates from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services such sums of money as are necessary to allocate to county welfare agencies in order to fulfill the provisions of the bill.